This is a blog about my teaching, research and service with some occasional personal comments thrown in. These are my notes on a variety of topics. If you want to follow my blog posts on a specific topic, then see the Table of Contents in the right-hand column. While I try to work in the realm of facts, logic and moral absolutes, if there are any opinions expressed here, they are my own. -WilliamHartPhD

New Fav Song on Spotify: Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town - Single Version by Bruce Springsteen
Note: When Spotify playlists are posted, click on the upper corner of graphic to see the full playlist. via my Tumblr

Saturday, December 19, 2015

"WATCH THE FULL VIDEO OR HOST A SCREENING: http://bit.ly/1OBPBRk SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/1JUX3Xv SIGN UP for email updates: http://bit.ly/1P3Lnp5 Set up a free screening or house party for any of our films free: http://bit.ly/1MSpWmz Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1P3Lp0f Instagram: http://bit.ly/1MSpUem Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BraveNewFilms DONATE: http://bit.ly/1P3Lnp6 WATCH OUR FULL FILMS FREE + NEW VIDEOS EVERY WEEK: http://bit.ly/1JUX3Xv ABOUT BRAVE NEW FILMS Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films are at the forefront of the fight to create a just America. Using new media and internet video campaigns, Brave New Films has created a quick-strike capability that informs the public, challenges corporate media with the truth, and motivates people to take action on social issues nationwide. Brave New Films’ investigative films have scrutinized the impact of U.S. drone strikes; the prosecution if whistleblowers; and Wal Mart’s corporate practices."
Via YouTube http://youtu.be/NojreIYSrQc
Liked on December 19, 2015 at 12:24AM

Saturday, December 12, 2015

"You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle." Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005"
Via YouTube http://youtu.be/OFjfZR9Pe_E
Liked on December 12, 2015 at 06:36PM

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

"Luke has given up before he begun by doubting his own abilities and not entrusting himself into the force https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3lQSxNdr3c Karate Kid - Squish Like Grape"
Via YouTube http://youtu.be/BQ4yd2W50No
Liked on December 9, 2015 at 01:56AM

“journalists generally are not equipped to read distant contexts, and neither are their audiences."

Journalist misread for several reasons.

“First, journalists arriving in a new context are foreigners [who don’t know the history, the religions, etc.]

“Misreadings also occur because journalists carry their cultural biases with them when reporting in a foreign context.”

e.g. American values/ways of doing things being seen as normal. Seeing foreign ways as “incomprehensible” or “despicable”.

“…the journalistic practice of deploying simplistic labels.”

Taking a complex, sometimes chaotic situation/place and putting into 20 words or less and putting it in a way that U.S. audience will relate to. “ethnic cleansing” label “white supremacy” label used in coverage of S.A.

In his book, Global Communication: Theories, Stakeholders, and Trends, Thomas McPhail defines the CNN effect as "the process by which the coverage of a foreign event by CNN causes that event to be a primary concern for its audience, which in turn forces the federal government to act." One could add to the U.S. government, then as part of its foreign policy, may influence foreign governments/peoples through direct action (e.g., war) or through sanctions. See video clip below.

Does CNN still have this influence on foreign policy? Any other news networks, U.S. or otherwise, have this influence? Any other form of media now has this influence? Think: Arab Spring (see first 2 minutes). Think: Kony2012 (see short clip). What role does social media play in shaping foreign policy? How's that process work?

The "social media effect" is defined here as the process by which the coverage of an event on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. causes that event to be a primary concern for its audiences around the world, which in turn forces foreign governments to act, thus further influencing the event.

The idea of presenting a development message within a fictional program is the type of development communication that is called entertainment education. The World Bank is a multinational organization that uses entertainment education in their work. See the video below for examples and background information.

Below is another example of entertainment education. Tim Reid, noted Norfolk State University alumnus and actor/director/producer, and NSU students (Maryna Kariuk and Shimira Cole) were involved in the making of "Hear My Son". How exactly is this an example of entertainment education?

Now to another film. How does Disney's Pocahontas fit into this discussion?

Do you spot the ethnocentric attitude from John Smith in this Pocahontas clip?
(If the video clip does not work, then the Disney's Pocahontas film can be found on sites like Netflix. If you find the full film see the segment from about 35:45 to about 40:00.)

Given the similarity between Pocahontas and Avatar (see below), then you might explore the "ugly Earthling" aspects of Avatar. Can you think of other related films?

* Of course, this could go the other way. People in other countries can have ethnocentric views toward the U.S. -- The ugly _____.

Development communication: the use of communication technology and principles to aid in the development of a society.

Development journalism: a 'branch' of development communication in which news media are used.
Journalism: "the collection and editing of news for presentation through the media"(M-W Dictionary)

If you had lots of money (through a grant, etc.) and you wanted to do good in the world, what would you do? If you wanted to help with some health issue in another country, what would you do?
If you wanted to help and you wanted to put your media knowledge and media skills to use, what would you do?

This cartoon from 1903 is a follow-up to the poem and the imperialistic, racist mindset.

To where is the "native" being taken? For what purpose?

And now...
Media Imperialism: “the imbalance and inequality in flow of mass media materials between developed and developing countries, and its subsequent effect on the developing country’s society and culture”(Araby in Frederick,1994).

Can you develop another definition related more to the definition of imperialism above?

Western (American) Media Imperialism.
Q: What American values can be found in its media products?
A: Individualism, materialism, adventurism, etc.

There are activities (things that happen in the world) and there are fields of academic study.

International and global communication can be seen as both an activity and a field of study.

International Communication: “simply defined, is communication that occurs across international borders, that is, over the borders of nation-states”(Fortner).

International Communication: “a field of inquiry and research that consists of the transfer of values, attitudes, opinions, and information through individuals, groups, governments, and technologies, as well as the study of the structure of institutions responsible for promoting or inhibiting such messages among and between nations and cultures”(Mowlana).

Global Communication: “the intersection of disciplines that studies the transborder communication of values, attitudes, opinions, information, and data by individuals, groups, people, institutions, governments, and information technologies, as well as the resulting controversial issues arising from the structure of institutions responsible for promoting or inhibiting such messages among and between nations and cultures”(Frederick). [Note: Frederick is a former student of Mowlana. I had the honor of being a student of both Mowlana and Frederick at American University's School of International Service.]

What difference do you see between "international communication" and "global communication"? Are they the same thing? What is Frederick adding to the discussion?

One thing that Frederick stresses is that "global communication" is "an intersection of disciplines" or put another way it is an interdiscipline.

Interdiscipline: "a field of scholars who identify with various disciplines but share a common interest in a theme that crosses traditional [academic] boundaries“ (Littlejohn).

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

So, according the previous post, technologies evolve. New ones are created and some old ones go extinct. Or do they go extinct?

Focusing specifically on media technologies, what new media tech has evolved recently? Is there a new species of media tech? It could be argued that "the third screen" is a new species. Martin writes about it in his book, The Third Screen: Marketing to Your Customers in a World Gone Mobile. What is the third screen and how has it evolved? And, what does it have to do with your future? What do you see evolving in the future? Do you see a fourth screen? No screen? What is the connection between your future and the future of media tech?

Previous posts have offered theories for how technologies come to be and develop over time. We've discussed, for example, Winston's model and we've discussed the Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations. We now turn to our last theory -- technological evolution.

This theory is based on the biological theory of evolution. One of the best explanations of biological evolution and the mechanism that drives evolution is found in Carl Sagan's Cosmos video series which was based on the book Cosmos. In the following video Sagan describes the process of artificial selection. As you are watching this clip from Cosmos, be sure to identify and be able to explain the mechanism that drives evolution. Does this mechanism explain technological evolution? Do technologies evolve?

Let's start first in Japan some time ago and the story of a drowned boy-emperor, a small crab and the idea of artificial selection.

Let's look at evolution in another way, noting especially the steps in the process.

Evolution is a process. What are the steps in the process?

In this short clip the process is explained in a different way. Slow the process down and catch each step. It starts with organisms vary.

Now, instead of rabbits, what if we were talking about mobile phones or any other media technology?

To best get a sense of Burke's approach to technological development, it would be helpful to see an example. In an episode of his 1970s TV series Connections he traced the development of TV and film back to the cannonball.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

In our coverage of the history of media, we've taken a biographical approach. We have studied some of the people especially relevant to the history of media. We have covered media scholars (and their media theories and related concepts). We have covered media technologists (and their media technologies).

We close our study of the history of media by looking at one last (and more recent) biography, that of Mark Zuckerberg (and Facebook).

We began our discussion of the history of media with the beginnings of language and we end our discussion with some coverage of social media.What makes Facebook or Twitter examples of social media? Is YouTube social media? What is social media?

"Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as 'a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.'" (Wikipedia).

So, Web 2.0 has something to do with social media. What is Web 2.0?

"The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design,[1] and collaboration on the World Wide Web. A Web 2.0 site allows users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators (prosumers) of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users (consumers) are limited to the passive viewing of content that was created for them. Examples of Web 2.0 include social networking sites, blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, hosted services, web applications, mashups and folksonomies" (Wikipedia)

So, if this is Web 2.0, what was Web 1.0?

How did social media develop/evolve? What is the short history of social media?

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